Rumor has it that 135,000 Nexus One phones with T-Mobile 3G have sold so far, and some folks are calling that a bust. We say who ever expected a phone that's not offered by the carrier or a phone dealer to sell well, especially at unlocked retail prices. That doesn't mean it isn't a cool and important Android smartphone, it just means Americans like the comfort of subsidies and carrier support.

That said, it didn't help that the Nexus One came out for our 4th largest carrier. Now it's available on AT&T, the US' largest carrier, and the phone also works on Rogers in Canada. Unlike the T-Mobile version, there's no contract pricing, so it's full retail $529 for you.

It will be interesting to see how this, and the eventual release for Verizon increase sales.

I currently have At&t, I've had it since it was Cingular, and I've been saving up for a smartphone. I have 324 dollars saved up to get me my first smartphone. Now, I've been waiting for the N1 to be released for At&t and now it has been, but without an At&t contract. Lisa, how does having to pay the full retail price, 529, for it benefit me? How is selling the N1 for full retail price to current At&t customers a good thing? What should I do? Get the backflip or this?

It is a shame that Google isn't offering a contract deal as they do with the T-Mobile version of the N1. The benefits (which may or may not outweigh the higher initial phone price for you) are that you do not need to extend your contract and you don't have to sign up for the smartphone data plan which is more expensive than the regular MediaNet plan.

Some folks have very attractive voice plans that they don't want to give up when renewing their contract, and AT&T makes you get the data plan if you get the phone subsidized via contract. Some folks don't want any data plan at all, though with Android phones, they're not nearly as useful without some kind of data plan. The cost of a contract and features like data actually are far more expensive than the phone itself over a 2 year period. At $70/month for 450 minutes and the smartphone data plan, you're spending $1,680.

I see, so in the long run it would save me quite a bit of money, a lot of money. Now, I currently have no data plan and am still using a Cingular SIM card, if I buy the AT&T N1 and insert said SIM card, will I still be able to make calls and text without having AT&T make me get a data plan?

Yes, you'll be able to make calls and send texts. The challenge with absolutely no data plan is that when you boot the phone for the first time, it wants to connect to your gmail account to set up the phone. It needs some kind of data plan to do this. Assuming you currently have a regular non-smartphone, the easiest way to deal with this would be to add the $15 Data Unlimited plan. You can do this online via wireless.att.com and you can remove the data plan afterward at any time.

Can't see it via shopping view on AT&T's website or can't see it when managing your account online? Either way, there's no easy way to provide a link. If in shopping view, you'll see it as an option after you add a feature phone (regular phone) to your cart.

I like both phones, but the Nexus One wins for that large, high res multi-touch display and extremely fast CPU. But if you prefer a keyboard, neither of those is a consolation. The Backflip is a pretty nice midrange Android phone for a very reasonable price. And if you have problems with the phone, you can go to any AT&T store for help with the Backflip. AT&T won't be supporting the N1, so you'd have to go through Google and HTC for support.

I will say that Android phones really were designed to have constant Internet access and they're less fun and useful without a data plan. Of course, having frequent access to WiFi helps if you don't have a data plan. But neither phone will shine without data-- everything they're good at, from cloud syncing to Google and other services, to web browsing, to push email to Android Market app downloads, depend on an Internet connection.

I used to have a Samsung SGH-D807 (high end phone in 2006, got it when at&t was still Cigular) but it decided to stop working about 2 months ago. So, I found an LG go-phone while moving and popped my Cingular SIM card into it and have been using that ever since. My plan is to buy the at&t 3G compatible Nexus One, activate a cheap data plan on my line, pop my Cingular SIM card into the Nexus one, set it up, and then disactivate the data plan. I just want to be certain that will work and in a couple days at&t won't find out I'm using a smartphone and charge me the 30 dollar monthly data plan.